Story posted Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Three More Join Fire Tax Board
The Niles Fire Department appointed three new members to the Foreign Fire Tax Board Wednesday, Jan. 27.
The board, made up of department firefighters, oversees the foreign fire tax fund, which is used to fund department purchases and maintenance costs.
The foreign fire tax fund is an Illinois fund set up by a state statute. When an Illinois resident or commercial business has insurance with a company that does not have a location in Illinois that person or business pays a premium to the state. That money is then sent to local fire departments.
Niles Fire Department Chief Barry Mueller said the new appointments were a result of the state allowing up to seven firefighters to serve on the fund's board. Previously, the board only had four members.
The new members are Kyle Richardson, Mike Ries and Mueller.
Mueller said that while the new rules encouraged departments to have seven members on the board, it did not force the additional appointments because some departments might not have enough people willing to volunteer.
"Our guys are pretty involved and we had plenty of guys willing to serve so we went with seven," he said.
The existing board members nominated six firefighters and a vote was held in the department to elect two of the new members. Mueller, the third new member, was appointed because members wanted the chief to be on the board.
In addition to conducting meetings the board is allowed to authorize expenses less than $1,000. Anything more expensive than $1,000 must be approved by a vote from all Niles firefighters. Mueller said the state gave about $35,000 to the fund this year.
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